Welcome to the Kotkeye Ride Home for Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021. I'm Jackson Bird today.

Sharing some reflections, some poetry, and a little historical context on what it is that makes fall strike such a strong chord with so many of us

in honor of this first day of fall. And a look at NASA's upcoming Lucy mission to Jupiter's

asteroids that somehow includes facts about the Beatles, Mexican track and field athlete Norma Enriquez, Basilio Sotelo, and the Iliad.

Here are some of the cool things from the news today.

Today is the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. I'm not positive if fall is my

favorite season, but I do think it's one of the most

curious. Even though many of us are more disconnected with nature and seasons these days, whether

due to technology, climate, or urban living, fall at its most pure is a kind of liminal space,

a transitory buffer between the heat of summer and the chill of

winter. Back in the day, or still in more agricultural settings, it was a time to prepare for a long,

hard winter. The shortened days and dying leaves reminded people of their own mortality,

and of those they'd lost. But at the same time, it was a period of

celebration, usually, for the harvest that had been sown through the spring and summer.

Many cultures held feast days around this time of year, but one of the most notable,

due to its strong association with what became Halloween, is the Celtic Festival of

Sowan, which translates to summer's end.

And indeed, in one of its first textual mentions in a 10th century Gaelic text, it's

described as when the summer goes to rest.

Historian Nicholas Rogers elaborates on Sowan in his book Halloween from pagan ritual to party

night, quote,

paired with the Feast of Beltane, which celebrated the life-generating powers of the sun,

...